Union Minister Sitharaman slams TN govt for claiming credit over caste census

Chennai: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday dismissed the DMK government's claim that the Centre’s decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census exercise was a "hard-earned victory" and criticised the ruling party in Tamil Nadu for "attempting to derive political mileage" from the move.

Addressing reporters, Sitharaman said the Union Cabinet has approved the caste census, and the data gathered through the exercise would enable the government to better support the poor and marginalised sections of society.

She also cited a recent incident in a village in the state where human waste was allegedly mixed into drinking water, under its rule.

"They say that some of the States are backward in North India. But even in such states, these kinds of incidents have not happened. So, DMK should drop the argument that they have tasted victory for the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census exercise," Sitharaman said.

Human feces was reportedly mixed in an overhead water tank in a Scheduled Caste residential neighbourhood under Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai district in December 2022.

Recently, Stalin had stated that the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census exercise was a 'hard-earned victory' for his party and the Tamil Nadu government.

Continuing her attack on the DMK, Sitharaman said that even today, shop boards across Tamil Nadu display the owners' community names. "Instead of making any political comments on this topic, I sincerely wish we should discuss how we can help the people who are marginally poor and downtrodden." Responding to charges that the central government has been favouring only the Corporates, she categorically denied it and questioned if a state government has received investment proposals, does it automatically imply that it is showing favouritism.

"The Centre is not favouring any Corporates. Secondly, today Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) inaugurated the Vizhinjam Port. But, it was formally handed over to Adani Group by the previous Congress government under the late Oommen Chandy. I should also ask this to you (media) that if a State is receiving investment proposals does that mean it was favouring a corporate,? " she asked.

To a query about the DMK's claim that the Centre has not been granting funds to the state, Sitharaman said she has addressed this issue during her visits to the state. "I have been sharing the data of how much funds have been allocated to Tamil Nadu, whenever I visit here. But they (TN government) have been commenting like this (that Centre did not release any funds)," she said.

Recently, when grant was provided to the State under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), Sitharaman said, "a DMK MP in a private message thanked me for the funds. But in public, he says differently that the Centre is not releasing funds. You (Media) should understand this." On the Goods and Services Tax, she said it is a compilation of 17 taxes and 8 cess which were levied before 2014. "It was already under existence in a different format. But, now if you get a receipt from a shopkeeper, he displays how much CGST and SGST is being paid for that product in an efficient and transparent manner." "Another point which I want to clarify is that GST cannot be decided by a single person and it is the council that passes the Bill after receiving the approval from all its members who are all representatives of every state government," she added.